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Corynebacterium diphtheriae: identification and characterization of a channel-forming protein in the cell wall.

ABSTRACT: The cell wall fraction of the gram-positive, nontoxic Corynebacterium diphtheriae strain C8r(-) Tox- (=ATCC 11913) contained a channel-forming protein, as judged from reconstitution experiments with artificial lipid bilayer experiments. The channel-forming protein was present in detergent-treated cell walls and in extracts of whole cells obtained using organic solvents. The protein had an apparent molecular mass of about 66 kDa as determined on Tricine-containing sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis gels and consisted of subunits having a molecular mass of about 5 kDa. Single-channel experiments with the purified protein suggested that the protein formed channels with a single-channel conductance of 2.25 nS in 1 M KCl. Further single-channel analysis suggested that the cell wall channel is wide and water filled because it has only slight selectivity for cations over anions and its conductance followed the mobility sequence of cations and anions in the aqueous phase. Antibodies raised against PorA, the subunit of the cell wall channel of Corynebacterium glutamicum, detected both monomers and oligomers of the isolated protein, suggesting that there are highly conserved epitopes in the cell wall channels of C. diphtheriae and PorA. Localization of the protein on the cell surface was confirmed by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The prospective homology of PorA with the cell wall channel of C. diphtheriae was used to identify the cell wall channel gene, cdporA, in the known genome of C. diphtheriae. The gene and its flanking regions were cloned and sequenced. CdporA is a protein that is 43 amino acids long and does not have a leader sequence. cdporA was expressed in a C. glutamicum strain that lacked the major outer membrane channels PorA and PorH. Organic solvent extracts of the transformed cells formed in lipid bilayer membranes the same channels as the purified CdporA protein of C. diphtheriae formed, suggesting that the expressed protein is able to complement the PorA and PorH deficiency of the C. glutamicum strain. The study is the first report of a cell wall channel in a pathogenic Corynebacterium strain.

SUBMITTER: Schiffler B

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2168714 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Corynebacterium diphtheriae: identification and characterization of a channel-forming protein in the cell wall.

Schiffler Bettina B Barth Enrico E Daffé Mamadou M Benz Roland R

Journal of bacteriology 20070824 21

The cell wall fraction of the gram-positive, nontoxic Corynebacterium diphtheriae strain C8r(-) Tox- (=ATCC 11913) contained a channel-forming protein, as judged from reconstitution experiments with artificial lipid bilayer experiments. The channel-forming protein was present in detergent-treated cell walls and in extracts of whole cells obtained using organic solvents. The protein had an apparent molecular mass of about 66 kDa as determined on Tricine-containing sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacryl ...[more]

PMID: 17720794

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Project description:We assessed changes in gene expression in response to manganese availability for the human pathogen Corynebacterium diphtheriae. Total RNA was harvested from wild-type C. diphtheriae strain 1737 and an isogenic ΔmntR (dip0619) grown in semi-defined metal-limited media (mPGT) without or with 5 µM manganese chloride supplementation. Three biological replicates were prepared and five genes were assessed by real-time PCR to validate the array results: dip0124, dip0169, dip0615, dip1923, and dip2261. (Abstract) Corynebacterium diphtheriae is the causative agent of a severe respiratory disease in humans. The bacterial systems required for infection are poorly understood, but the acquisition of metals such as manganese (Mn) are likely critical for host colonization. MntR is a Mn-dependent transcriptional regulator in C. diphtheriae and was previously shown to repress the expression of the mntABCD genes, which encode an ABC metal transporter. However, other targets of Mn and MntR regulation in C. diphtheriae have not been identified. In this study, we use comparisons between the gene expression profiles of wild-type C. diphtheriae strain 1737 grown without or with Mn supplementation and comparisons of gene expression between wild-type and an mntR mutant to characterize the C. diphtheriae Mn and MntR regulon. MntR was observed to both repress and induce the expression of various target genes in a Mn-dependent manner. Genes induced by MntR include the Mn-superoxide dismutase, sodA, and the putative ABC transporter locus, iutABCD. DNA binding studies showed that MntR interacts at the promoter regions for several genes identified in the expression study, and a 17-bp consensus MntR DNA binding site was identified. We found that an mntR mutant displayed increased sensitivity to Mn and Cd that could be alleviated by the additional deletion of the mntA-D transport locus, providing evidence that the MntABCD transporter functions as a Mn uptake system in C. diphtheriae. The findings in this study further our understanding of metal uptake systems and global metal regulatory networks in this important human pathogen.

Project description:We assessed changes in gene expression in response to zinc availability for the human pathogen Corynebacterium diphtheriae. Expression profiles of wild-type C. diphtheriae strain 1737 grown in semi-defined metal-poor media (mPGT) without and with 5 µM zinc chloride supplementation were compared; the expression profile of wild-type C. diphtheriae strain 1737 in zinc-replete conditions was also compared against an isogenic Δzur mutant grown in zinc-replete conditions. Three biological replicates were prepared by isolating total RNA from mid-logarithmic growth cultures and eleven genes (dip0013, dip0093, dip0173, dip0438, dip1087, dip1486, dip1724, dip2114, dip2128, dip2162, and dip2325) were assessed by real-time PCR to validate the array results. (Abstract) Corynebacterium diphtheriae is a Gram-positive bacterial pathogen and the causative agent of diphtheria, a severe disease of the upper respiratory tract of humans. Factors required for C. diphtheriae to survive in the human host are not well defined, but likely include the acquisition of essential metals such as zinc. In C. diphtheriae, zinc-responsive global gene regulation is controlled by the Zinc Uptake Regulator (Zur), a member of the Fur-family of transcriptional regulators. In this study, we use transcriptomics to identify zinc-regulated genes in C. diphtheriae by comparing gene expression of a wild-type strain grown without and with zinc supplementation. Zur-regulated genes were identified by comparing wild-type gene expression with that of an isogenic zur mutant. We observed zinc repression of several putative surface proteins, the heme efflux system hrtBA, various ABC transporters, and the non-ribosomal peptide synthetase/polyketide synthase cluster sidAB. Furthermore, increased gene expression in response to zinc was observed for the alcohol dehydrogenase, adhA. Zinc and Zur regulation were confirmed for several genes by complementing the zur deletion and subsequent qPCR analysis. We used MEME to predict Zur binding sites within the promoter regions of zinc- and Zur-regulated genes, and verified Zur binding by electrophoretic mobility shift assays. Additionally, we characterized cztA (dip1101), which encodes a putative cobalt/zinc/cadmium efflux family protein. Deletion of cztA results in increased sensitivity to zinc, but not to cobalt or cadmium. This study advances our knowledge of changes to Zur-dependent global gene expression in response to zinc in C. diphtheriae. The identification of zinc-regulated ABC transporters herein will facilitate future studies to characterize zinc transport in C. diphtheriae.

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Dataset Information

Corynebacterium diphtheriae: identification and characterization of a channel-forming protein in the cell wall.

Publications

Corynebacterium diphtheriae: identification and characterization of a channel-forming protein in the cell wall.

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